About Riverside Camp on the Illinois

Located right off the 199 Redwood Highway, just minutes from town we welcome you to our forest sanctuary. This campsite sits right on our own private riverside beach and swimming spot. The camp is also just a 3 minute walk to the lands prestine swimming hole. You will sleep in a 10' Canvas Tent which includes a full size mattress and bedding. This camp is a 2 minute walk to Read more...

Located right off the 199 Redwood Highway, just minutes from town we welcome you to our forest sanctuary. This campsite sits right on our own private riverside beach and swimming spot. The camp is also just a 3 minute walk to the lands prestine swimming hole. You will sleep in a 10' Canvas Tent which includes a full size mattress and bedding. This camp is a 2 minute walk to the main house, private commercial kitchen, bathroom, shower and outdoor bath.

The Romantic Riverside Camp is ideal for two people but we can include one extra camp pad and sleeping bag inside if needed.

Cedar Bloom has available power and cell phone service. Cell phone service works great if you have AT&T or Verizon. Internet is limited but is available.We have several giant meadows with thousands of trees surrounding. We are right on the Illinois River with a mile of river frontage and 3 incredible swim spots. It's a great place to come and recharge and renew.

We are surrounded by beautiful scenery in all directions! We are close to the Redwoods, The Oregon Caves and so much more. We are close to major cities such as Grants Pass, Medford, Crescent City and Ashland.

MORE ABOUT CEDARSONG...

Cedar Bloom was purchased in the spring of 2017 by Spirit Weavers Gathering as a place of peace and healing, for all walks of life. Spirit Weavers is an annual womens gathering which happens once a year each June. We host over 1,000 women in just two weeks on the land. We are located on the Illinois River just outside Cave Junction, Oregon. The town is just a 5 minute drive from camp so everything is very accessible.

Our Main House was built in 1962 and retains the flavor of the 60’s with a beautiful Mid Century Modern feel. It houses a kitchen, dining hall, a living room, five bedrooms and three bathroom with a bathtub. It currently houses Agustin and Mea and their seven year old daughter Naia.

FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE OF THE ILLINOIS VALLEY

For thousands of years, the Takelma people lived in the Illinois and Rogue River valleys, what is now known as Josephine County. They lived in small bands close to the land. Interior southwest Oregon has pronounced seasons and the ancient Takelma adapted to these seasons by spending spring, summer and early fall months collecting and storing food for the winter season.

Salmon was central to their food source and way of life. The salmon diet was supplemented by game, such as deer, elk, beaver, bear, antelope and bighorn sheep. Smaller mammals, such as squirrels, rabbits and gophers, might have been snared by both men and women. They gathered the root of the Camas plant, part of the asparagus family, as well as acorns from the two native species of Oaks, the Oregon white oak and California black oak. Other vegetation included manzanita berries, pine nuts, tarweed seeds, wild plums and sunflowers. The Takelma are also known to have cultivated a native tobacco plant, but otherwise relied on the fruits of the wilderness for their survival. The main utensils included horn, bone and wood-made implements and a great variety of baskets constructed generally by twining on a hazel warp. Stone was used in the making of arrowheads and pestles. The clothing and personal adornment of the Takelma was similar to the tribes of northern California. Notable characteristics include facial painting, red-headed woodpecker scalps for men and basket caps for women. The women also tattooed the skin in three stripes and men tattooed the left arm.

European Settlement of the Illinois Valley began by the 1830’s, as the gold and logging industries developed. By the end of 1856, the traditional residents of the Rogue and Illinois River valleys were forcibly removed and relocated to the Siletz Reservation on the central Oregon coast. The Takelma were joined on the reservations by their neighbors, the Athapaskans and the Shasta, as well as tribes from even farther away, such as the Coos and Tillamook. It is reported that by 1906 less than ten Takelma were alive and able to speak their native language.

In 1994, for the first time in over 140 years, an ancient ceremony took place to welcome home and give thanks for the returning salmon, on the Kanaka Flats of the Applegate River. People of all heritages were welcomed at the annual Salmon Gathering on the Applegate River until 2006. In 2007, the ceremony was moved to the place where it was held for thousands of years: the Tilomikh (Powerhouse Falls), on the Rogue River near Gold Hill, Oregon. Since then, the ceremony has taken place annually in its traditional location, demonstrating that the Takelma culture is alive and will continue into the future.

Today, Takelma descendents continue to reside on or near the Siletz and Grand Ronde reservations. The Pilgrims brought back the Salmon Ceremony to Southern Oregon. Due to the Pilgrim’s contribution in returning the Salmon Ceremony to Jackson County, Agnis Baker-Pilgrim is known to some locals as the ‘Keeper of the Sacred Salmon Ceremony. Agnes, one of the oldest grandmothers of the International Council of the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, has returned to the Rogue Valley and today her voice can be heard strong and clear, proving that the spirit and blood of her people are still with us.

PLANT & ANIMAL RELATIONS

We are very fortunate to be surrounded by a widely diverse population of flora and fauna. As caretakers of this sacred land, we feel a strong responsibility to honor our plant and animal allies by not only protecting them and their habitat, but also to help educate others about what lives and grows here by providing people with opportunities to experience the beauty of these plants and animals for themselves. For this reason, We are honored to host the many different groups who will gather here on this land for learning and communing with the nature that flourishes here. We feel very fortunate to be involved in this process of helping promote a sustainable and abundant future for all living things on this planet by sharing knowledge and skills from the human past that can make a sustainable lifestyle a reality for everyone everywhere.

The animals here include, but are not limited to deer, foxes, coyote, raccoon, skunks, and sometimes black bear though we havent seen any yet! The birds that surround us are migratory geese, quail, wild turkeys, hawks, ospreys and eagles. The fish that call the Illinois River their home are the Salmon People, Steelhead & Trout along with their friends the otter and ducks. The Land is a no-hunting zone so the animals here are abudant and safe.

The plant life here is incredibly diverse. This land is home to many native grasses, ferns, and berries, wild flowers, as well as many other edible and medicinal plants and fungi such as mugwort, self-heal, soap root, and a variety of mushrooms. The tree population is a blend of hardwoods like Manzanita, Madrone, and several kinds of Oaks along with mature Fir, Pine, Cedar trees, Alder, Maple and Apples. With special attention to management of non-native and invasive plants, Spirit Weavers is committed to maintaining a well balanced forest ecosystem with high biodiversity.

MEADOW CAMPS

If you are camping in one of our Meadow Camps, you may want to bring your camper van or RV to the campsite. Depending on the size of your vehicle, you may be able to park close to the river, next to your camp, or up at the main house, or pitch your tent in the site of your choice.

Our Shower House will be completed by mid August. It holds three shower stalls and overlooks the Illinois River.

TIMES Please clean up and check out of your site by 12:am on the day of your departure. You can check in by 2:pm on the day of your arrival.

CLIMATE & THE ILLINOIS VALLEY Cedar Bloom holds the heart during the summer. Temps can range from 75-95 during the day and generally cools down to the 70's during the evenings. Swimming in the summer months is delicious. We have mostly pebbly beaches and a jagged rock and sand beach right where the Swimming hole is. The river is chilly until late June and it cools down again in late September.

NEIGHBORS There is another campground right next door but since we have 100 acres, you never really see a soul! Please use our pathways to travel property next to us, and respect the privacy and tranquility of our neighbors by not keeping late hours or playing loud music.

EMERGENCIES If someone needs to reach you in an emergency, Cell phones work great on the land. If you don't get service and need to contact someone our land phones are available.

FOOD & WATER Please bring your own food to camp. Town is close so if you need to run errands to grab food its a short drive away. All of our water is on a well and is super clean and ran through a UV light. Please keep food and garbage out of the reach and smell of animals so we don’t have animal visitors at night.

GARBAGE If you pack it in, please pack it out when you leave.

FIRES Depending on the time of year, cooking fires are permissible in the fire pits provided. Please NO bonfires. We have fire wood in the forest around the meadow for use for cooking fires but please bring your own wood to the land. We also have wood available for purchase.

PETS Please leave pets at home. If you must bring your pet, please message us before hand.

GRATITUDE We feel honored to be stewards of this land. One of our main visions for this land is to protect its cultural and environmental heritage. We are excited to share about the native food forest we will be cultivating for the local community and beyond. We will also be placing the land into a conservation trust so no logging or future development can occur. For the many years to come, we will explore the ways can live in harmony with the natural world for the greater good of people and the plants and animals we depend on. We welcome you to Cedar Bloom!

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE LAND AND EVENTS HERE, PLEASE VISIT THE SPIRIT WEAVERS GATHERING WEBSITE

I meant to review this months ago when it was fresher in my mind, but this place was perfect. My wife and I stayed here for a night while driving from San Francisco to Seattle and in retrospect, I wish we'd stayed for much longer. We're seriously considering spending a week here next summer.

The camp-site's private and very well-appointed. You feel like you have miles of riverfront to yourself, and about 40 yards up the river there's a large, deep swimming hole.

Everybody was super helpful and attentive. Can't recommend this place highly enough.